Road accident victim’s family gets over Rs 35L

The family of a 30-year-old man, who was crushed to death by a rashly driven truck in 2012, has been awarded a compensation of over Rs 35 lakh by a motor accident claims tribunal (MACT) here.

The tribunal directed ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, with which the offending truck was insured, to pay compensation of Rs 35.89 lakh to the family members of Umesh Kumar Ray, who died after being hit by a speeding truck in Najafgarh here.

While awarding the compensation, MACT’s Presiding Officer Mohinder Virat relied upon the testimony of the deceased’s brother Rajesh Kumar, who was the only eyewitness to the accident.

“The rash and negligent driving of the offending truck has been duly proved by the cogent and confident testimony of PW-2 (Rajesh), who is the sole eyewitness in the present case,” the tribunal said, adding the driver of the truck has failed to appear before it to prove that he had not been negligent.

Having approached the tribunal seeking compensation, the kin of the deceased contended that on April 22, 2012, Umesh and Rajesh were going towards Rail Factory Road in Najafgarh when all of a sudden a speeding truck came from behind and hit the deceased.

Due to the impact of the incident, Umesh was thrown on the road and run over by the truck, leading to his death.

They informed the tribunal that Umesh was the sole earning member of his family and had been working at a private firm on a monthly salary of Rs 15,000.

The tribunal awarded half of the compensation amount to 27-year-old Ranju Devi, wife of the deceased, while directing that the remaining amount be divided equally among Umesh’s parents and his three minor sons.